Joe Sewell

Shortstop · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1920-1933)

Joe Sewell was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1920 to 1933 for the Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees, a span of 14 seasons. In 1,903 career games, he hit .312 with 2,226 hits, 49 home runs, and 1,055 RBI. Joe Sewell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 15,785.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

⭐ Hall of Fame 1977
AVG .312
HR 49
RBI 1,055
H 2,226
OPS .804
PIV 15,785
Position
Shortstop
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'6" / 155 lb
Born
10/9/1898 in Titus, AL, USA
Died
3/6/1990 in Mobile, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1920-09-10
Last Game
1933-09-24
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1977 (BBWAA)

Full name: Joseph Wheeler Sewell

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Joe Sewell — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,903 7,132 1,141 2,226 436 68 49 1,055 74 842 114 .312 .391 .413 .804 15,785

Career AVG .312 vs. league average .282 across their career seasons — +10.6% above league average.

Career OBP .391 vs. league average .344 across their career seasons — +13.8% above league average.

Career SLG .413 vs. league average .395 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .804 vs. league average .739 across their career seasons — +8.8% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Joe Sewell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1920 CLE AL 22 70 14 23 4 1 0 12 1 9 4 .329 .271 (+21%) .331 (+24%) .363 (+14%) .694 (+19%) 247.0
1921 CLE AL 154 572 101 182 36 12 4 93 7 80 17 .318 .286 (+11%) .344 (+20%) .395 (+12%) .739 (+16%) 2215.8
1922 CLE AL 153 558 80 167 28 7 2 83 10 73 20 .299 .285 (+5%) .345 (+12%) .397 (-3%) .743 (+4%) 719.3
1923 CLE AL 153 553 98 195 41 10 3 109 9 98 12 .353 .282 (+25%) .344 (+32%) .390 (+23%) .734 (+27%) 3686.3
1924 CLE AL 153 594 99 188 45 5 4 106 3 67 13 .316 .283 (+11%) .345 (+12%) .389 (+10%) .734 (+11%) 1505.9
1925 CLE AL 155 608 78 204 37 7 1 98 7 64 4 .336 .288 (+16%) .349 (+15%) .407 (+4%) .756 (+9%) 1410.2
1926 CLE AL 154 578 91 187 41 5 4 85 17 65 6 .324 .279 (+16%) .345 (+16%) .390 (+11%) .735 (+13%) 1774.0
1927 CLE AL 153 569 83 180 48 5 1 92 3 51 7 .316 .282 (+12%) .344 (+11%) .392 (+8%) .736 (+9%) 1183.0
1928 CLE AL 155 588 79 190 40 2 4 70 7 58 9 .323 .280 (+15%) .342 (+14%) .395 (+6%) .737 (+10%) 1385.8
1929 CLE AL 152 578 90 182 38 3 7 73 6 48 4 .315 .289 (+9%) .353 (+5%) .415 (+3%) .769 (+4%) 555.5
1930 CLE AL 109 353 44 102 17 6 0 48 1 41 3 .289 .293 (-2%) .354 (+6%) .429 (-14%) .784 (-5%) -187.9
1931 NYA AL 130 484 102 146 22 1 6 64 1 61 8 .302 .276 (+9%) .338 (+15%) .388 (avg) .726 (+7%) 1001.7
1932 NYA AL 125 503 95 137 21 3 11 68 0 56 3 .272 .275 (-1%) .335 (+4%) .391 (avg) .726 (+2%) 307.3
1933 NYA AL 135 524 87 143 18 1 2 54 2 71 4 .273 .270 (+1%) .329 (+9%) .377 (-15%) .707 (-3%) -18.8
Career · 14 seasons 1,903 7,132 1,141 2,226 436 68 49 1,055 74 842 114 .312 — — — — 15,785

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Joe Sewell — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
11 38 4 9 1 0 0 3 6 1 .237

Playoff Batting by Year

Joe Sewell — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1932 WS NYA 4 15 4 5 1 0 0 3 4 0 .333
1920 WS CLE 7 23 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 .174

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1903 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Joe Sewell — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home9563538571115027568.325
Away9473592573107422479.299

Last 10 Games — Batting

Joe Sewell — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1933-09-24 NYYBOSL 101000100
1933-09-23 NYYBOSW 000000000
1933-09-20 NYYCHWW 400000100
1933-09-19 NYYCHWW 513000000
1933-09-19 NYYCHWW 523001400
1933-09-18 NYYCHWL 412000010
1933-09-18 NYYCHWW 500000000
1933-09-17 NYYCLEW 210000020
1933-09-17 NYYCLEW 300000010
1933-09-12 NYYDETW 401000200

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Sewell — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 16 0 38 44 3 8
3B 643 0 644 1253 72 103
SS 1216 0 2591 3933 333 665

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Sewell — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1920 CLE SS 22 0 44 70 15 11
1921 CLE SS 154 0 319 480 47 75
1922 CLE 2B 12 0 27 35 3 7
1922 CLE SS 139 0 295 462 49 72
1923 CLE SS 151 0 286 497 59 82
1924 CLE SS 153 0 349 514 36 76
1925 CLE 2B 3 0 10 6 0 0
1925 CLE SS 153 0 314 529 29 80
1926 CLE SS 154 0 326 463 37 86
1927 CLE SS 153 0 361 480 33 80
1928 CLE 3B 19 0 22 61 5 3
1928 CLE SS 137 0 297 438 28 103
1929 CLE 3B 152 0 163 336 13 28
1930 CLE 3B 97 0 83 184 14 16
1931 NYA 2B 1 0 1 3 0 1
1931 NYA 3B 121 0 131 227 18 14
1932 NYA 3B 123 0 122 221 9 15
1933 NYA 3B 131 0 123 224 13 27

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Joe Sewell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Second Base 16
Third Base 643
Shortstop 1214

Awards & Honors

Joe Sewell — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1928 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1926 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1926 TSN All-Star SS
1925 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1924 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star SS

College History

Joe Sewell — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa AL 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920

Award Voting History

Joe Sewell — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1932 Most Valuable Player AL 29th 1.0 80 0
1928 Most Valuable Player AL 12th 6.0 64 0
1927 Most Valuable Player AL 10th 9.0 64 0
1925 Most Valuable Player AL 3rd 21.0 64 0
1924 Most Valuable Player AL 9th 9.0 64 0
1923 Most Valuable Player AL 4th 20.0 64 0
1922 Most Valuable Player AL 19th 4.0 64 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Joe Sewell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    George Kell HOF
    .306 avg, 78 HR
  2. 97
    Billy Herman HOF
    .304 avg, 47 HR
  3. 95
    Lou Boudreau HOF
    .295 avg, 68 HR
  4. 89
    Stan Hack
    .301 avg, 57 HR
  5. 89
    Buddy Myer
    .303 avg, 38 HR
  6. 88
    Phil Cavarretta
    .293 avg, 95 HR

Compare Joe Sewell

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Sewell's closest peers by position and era.

vs Tris Speaker
vs Joe Cronin
vs Luke Appling
vs Derek Jeter
vs George Davis
vs Cal Ripken

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Sewell

What years did Joe Sewell play?
Joe Sewell played in Major League Baseball from 1920 to 1933.
Was Joe Sewell a pitcher?
No. Joe Sewell was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Joe Sewell hit?
Joe Sewell hit 49 career home runs with 2226 hits.
Is Joe Sewell in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Joe Sewell was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
What was Joe Sewell's career batting average?
Joe Sewell batted .312 over his career, with 2,226 hits in 7,132 at bats.
How many RBI did Joe Sewell have?
Joe Sewell drove in 1,055 runs in his career.